Rise in passengers at 10 airports

Last week, an MSP said BA flights to Heathrow could be restored

Publicly-owned Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) has reported a slight rise in the number of passengers using 10 of its 11 sites.

It said figures for the past six months are 2% higher than for the same period the previous year.

Numbers passing through Dundee, which the Scottish Government-owned operator also runs, have fallen by almost 8%.

Meanwhile, HIAL expects to confirm a direct link from Inverness to Germany for next year at the end of this month.

The increase in passengers - a total of 711,905 for the past six months - were reported at Barra, Benbecula, Campeltown, Inverness, Islay, Kirkwall, Stornoway, Sumburgh, Tiree and Wick.

Total aircraft movements for the 10 airports increased by 3.8%.

Our airports are not immune from these industry-wide factors with Dundee, where traffic to date is down on last year, being a case in point Inglis Lyon HIAL managing director

Figures for Dundee show a running total of 35,195 passengers - a fall of 7.9% - and a 5.5% drop in aircraft coming in and out of the airport.

But HIAL management said recent developments pointed to a positive trend for 2009.

Loganair is due to increase its Sumburgh to Bergen flights and introduce a Kirkwall to Bergen service.

Charter operators Discover Jersey, Newmarket Holidays and Thomson have put their 2009 programmes from Inverness on sale.

Bosses also expect to make an announcement soon on the direct link to Germany.

Inglis Lyon, managing director of HIAL, said performance for the summer had been good despite unprecedented difficulties in the aviation industry and wider economy.

He said: "In overall terms performance to the end of September has been good with year on year growth of 2% in total passenger numbers for our 10 airports in the Highlands and Islands.

"Within this context, however, we recognise that the current aviation climate is very difficult due to a combination of fuel prices impacting on airlines' operations and wider economic factors creating uncertainty in demand for travel.

"Our airports are not immune from these industry-wide factors with Dundee, where traffic to date is down on last year, being a case in point."

Third runway

Last week, Highlands and Islands MSP David Stewart said he was assured flights between Inverness and Heathrow would be restored if the London airport gets a third runway.

Mr Stewart said he was given the assurance by British Airways chief Willie Walsh.

BA flights between the two airports stopped in 1997.

A decision on the controversial third runway is due by the end of this year.